F-150 Tops AutoTrader’s Most-Popular List for 2013

Dec. 27, 2013—AutoTrader.com released on Friday its list of the most popular new vehicles for 2013, and three of the top five are full-size trucks, the Ford F-150 taking the top spot once again.

Following the F-150 in popularity were the Jeep Wrangler, Dodge Ram 1500, Ford Mustang, and Chevrolet Silverado 1500. Overall, trucks accounted for almost half of the top-20 list.

"The full-size truck segment is historically the most popular vehicle segment on our site, but it grew this year to garner more than 20 percent share of shopper interest," said Isabelle Helms, vice president of research and market intelligence at AutoTrader.com. "We believe this is due to a combination of growth in the housing and construction sectors, and the number of models that were all-new for the 2013 and 2014 model years."

As far as top brands go, Ford was the leader with six of its vehicles in the top 20, including the Ford Fusion, which moved up 16 spots from last year to become the site’s 16th most popular vehicle. Chevrolet had four on the list.

"The Ford Fusion was particularly dominant earlier in the year because the 2013 model was all-new," explained Helms. "Corvette's place on the list is a bit deceiving, because interest declined through most of the year as shoppers waited for the 2014 model. … Once listings for the all-new vehicle were posted on the site, interest skyrocketed, and it was among the top three most popular vehicles on the site for the last three months of the year."

The most popular vehicles are determined by analyzing the number of car shoppers who click on a listing for a new car for sale on AutoTrader.com. This methodology goes beyond search to illustrate which cars shoppers are actively interested in learning more about, and is reflective of the new vehicles dealers are offering for sale. More than 16 million car shoppers visit AutoTrader.com each month.